(A/N)- Sorry for my delays in other fanfics. This was an idea I just couldn't shake off. Might make it into a multi-chapter but my ideas for it, well ... the characters might get too OOC. ^^; We'll see ... I had meant for this to get posted on Halloween but was being horrible to me. Also, this involves lightly implied femslash, but it could be taken as a friendship fic between Drill and HB ... mehh, you be the judge. ;) This is an episode addition to A Mean Halloween. Enjoy!
-The Stare-
"They're just young girls, Miss Hardbroom."
"They are not just young girls, Miss Drill, they are young witches -"
"Young witches, then," she corrected, "Who need guidance, your guidance, and they don't need to be ridiculed for every mistake ... you need to be patient with them."
Constance remained silent, seated bolt upright in her usual chair in the staffroom, eyes locked on her folded hands upon the faded blue tablecloth.
"You were a young witch once too, you know." Imogen added as an afterthought, causing the witch to snap her head up and glare intensely at her, but the glare was not received as the sports mistress turned her head and left silently.
Constance refused to say it, but she took Imogen's words to heart. She tried, really she did. It took a certain level of control, but she managed to keep control of the girls without having to shout at and threaten them. Most of all, she felt she was finally getting through to Mildred Hubble, the worst witch of them all. Mildred had managed to successfully concoct a voice-changing potion. Seeing this as a sign she had turned over a new leaf, she took a gamble and allowed Mildred to keep the role of Lucy Fairweather in the Halloween presentation for the Grand Wizard.
As the presentation neared, however, she'd begun to get anxious and nervous. If Mildred failed, it wouldn't only be Mildred's fault, but Constance's fault as well. She knew how the girl was, and she was putting the reputation of the entire school at risk by allowing her to go through with it.
"Miss Hardbroom!" a voice exclaimed, and she looked up into Imogen's bright smiling green eyes.
The smile faded instantly once she'd seen the look of dread in the deputy head's face, "You look pale. What's the matter?"
The potions mistress pursed her lips in annoyance, and stared forward, her eyes hidden from beneath her witch's hat, "Miss Drill, I always look pale."
She felt the woman staring at her, and she looked up, brown eyes penetrating and causing the non-witch to immediately avert her gaze.
"What are you staring at?" she snapped impatiently.
"Nothing," Imogen murmured, shook her head, and left just as Miss Cackle entered.
"Ah, there you are, Constance!" she greeted cheerfully, "The girls are on their way down now ... have you seen Miss Bat?"
Constance looked questioningly to the stationary cupboard, and Amelia knocked on it gently, but the wailing from the hallway answered her question. Davina flew by in a flurry of black as she sang a terribly drawn-out version of Loreena McKennitt's 'All Souls Night'.
Constance let out a heavy sigh, muttering more to herself than the headmistress as she swept out of the room, "This is going to be a long night."
"Come along, girls! Collect your brooms from the broom shed!" Constance called, her voice echoing up into the high ceiling of the main staircase. In that sentence, she regained her confidence, a little voice in her head calming her and telling her all would be fine. Mildred wouldn't mess this up, surely! She did practice, Constance had seen to that. She'd managed to fly her broomstick almost perfectly, although, it wasn't her broomstick, it had been a borrowed one from Maud whilst Ethel went to fetch her spare broom. It was Mildred's bent broom, not Mildred, that had been the cause behind her poor flying patterns. All would go well tonight, all would go well ...
The sound of whirring wheels distracted Constance momentarily, and she looked towards the sound to see Imogen wheeling up beside her with a confident grin.
"What's that you got there, Miss Drill?" Amelia inquired curiously.
"My new bicycle," she announced proudly, lifting it and pressing a button Constance couldn't see, causing the back wheel to fold up underneath the middle, making it smaller and more portable. She pretended not to notice the witch as she turned both heels to face her other two colleagues.
"You'll never catch me on one of those things," she said with the slightest hint of distaste, raising a brow at the broomsticks in their hands.
Constance fought back a grin. Too often she had seen the look of longing on the younger woman's face whenever they were flying high in the sky. Imogen was adventurous by nature, after all. She thought it completely ridiculous for her to think that they would believe she never dreamt of flying one herself.
"It's all a matter of practice," Amelia said with a cheery grin.
Constance watched the non-witch, hoping her staring would cause her to meet her eyes, but she didn't. She enjoyed challenging the woman. And for the first time since her employment here at Cackle's Academy, Imogen wasn't rising up to the challenge. For once, she seemed uneasy, afraid to meet the older woman's stare. Constance was thoroughly amused, and tried hard not to show it.
"Which reminds me, Miss Hardbroom," Amelia said, causing her to tear her gaze away from the non-witch, "How's the presentation piece?"
Feeling Miss Drill's eyes upon her, she could not hide her amusement, "I don't like to make predictions, Miss Cackle, not even on Halloween, but I think we might all be due for a very pleasant surprise."
She allowed a smile, and glanced over at Imogen, who immediately looked towards the girls as they marched down the steps, all donned in their traditional witchy clothes.
Constance had half a mind to address Imogen's strange behavior, but as the others did not seem to take notice of it, she decided to ignore her, staring straight ahead, her lips pursed in a concentrated stare. As she did so, she could feel the non-witch's eyes watching her.
Her keen ears picked up on several comments the girls were making on the stairs about her appearance, and in those remarks, she snapped, her black hair whipping wildly about her face as she glared immensely up at Mildred and her gang.
"Will you girls hurry up!" she shouted in her usual voice, the one she hadn't used for a while now.
She hadn't used it in so long that Amelia and Davina jumped slightly at the sound of her voice. Imogen just rolled her eyes.
Constance swept past, her back to the blonde as she informed the headmistress, calmly as ever, "That is everyone, Miss Cackle."
She followed Amelia and Davina out, pretending for a brief moment that the irritating non-witch was not accompanying them this evening, but the steady whirring of gears behind her as she stepped out of the castle walls reminded her otherwise.
And she could still feel those green eyes piercing into her!
Constance stopped short, almost causing Imogen to run right into her, but luckily she had great reflexes and she managed to stop just a hair from treading her bike on her long black cloak.
"Is something the matter, Miss Drill?" she hissed, her teeth baring slightly as she stared menacingly at her.
For the first time that evening, Imogen returned the stare.
"No, why do you ask?" she replied innocently.
"You've been staring at me for the past fifteen minutes or so," she sneered. Imogen opened her mouth to protest, and she cut her off, "Don't think I haven't noticed, you've been gawping at me every time I look away!"
"Y-your hair ..." Imogen managed quietly, rather nervously. A blush crossed her features.
Constance was taken off guard, "What of it?" she demanded.
"It looks nice like that," she said, the blush deepening as she added, barely over a whisper, "Beautiful, even."
Constance felt herself blush, but she let her voice suggest she was anything but embarrassed as she snapped sarcastically, "I know. It's miraculous, isn't it? So I've been looking awful up until now, is that it?"
"No!" she shot back, slightly angry with her, but her gaze fell to her feet as she leaned against her bike slightly, gripping the handlebars tighter as she spoke, "You've always been beautiful, I just think you should wear your hair down more often."
She said this sentence so hurriedly that Constance could scarcely believe she'd heard her correctly. Before she could fully register what the annoying little woman had said to her, another annoying little woman flounced up beside her, looking incredibly giddy.
"See, Constance? I've been telling you this for years, and you never believed me! Imogen- together, I bet we could get her to wear it down year round!"
"Davina," she addressed dangerously, "How many times must I tell you? I will say it again because Imogen appears to be just as daft as you are!" Imogen was slightly hurt at this remark, but a feeling of joy stirred pleasantly in her heart as she realized the formidable potions mistress had just addressed her by her first name, as she had so often insisted she should.
"I cannot wear my hair down because of my profession. Imagine the dangers long hair would pose in a potions laboratory! I don't wear it this way to be weird or prudish, I do it for safety reasons!"
"Well you don't teach class twenty-four-seven," Imogen reminded, feeling a lot less uncomfortable now that Davina had jumped in to the conversation.
Constance's deep brown eyes penetrated hers, but she did not falter, "You could always wear it down when not in class."
"Excellent idea!" Davina approved, clapping happily, "That way everyone wins!" she danced off to her spot by Amelia, feeling extremely pleased with herself.
Constance stared at Imogen a moment longer as her previous words finally sinked in ... did she really think she was beautiful? She'd always thought the non-witch hated her ... then again, Imogen only hated her because she had always behaved prejudiced towards her. Lack of magick in a witch school, that alone was ridiculous. But to teach a class that did not require magick as well, in a witch school ... well, the idea alone was maddening. And the fact that she did so and got away with it, well, that had always infuriated the witch.
But now, she found herself looking upon the blonde with new eyes, as if she had only just realized her.
Imogen just offered an encouraging smile, daringly patting the taller woman on the arm, "Good luck with the presentation," she said cheerfully, and wheeled past her, pushing herself upright on the pedal and swinging her other leg over before pedaling away.
"Thank you ..." Constance found herself saying quietly to no one. She shook her head slightly, trying to forget these thoughts at least until after the presentation and yet ... she could not shake the thought of that infuriating woman from her mind.
And she could still feel her gentle touch on her arm ...
Constance soared high above the treetops, her brown eyes unwisely scanning the ground below instead of the sky ahead as she looked for the sports mistress.
It didn't take long- she was easy to spot in her bright blue jumper. She had stopped a moment before entering the wood, watching as her students and colleagues made their way to the ceremony.
She waved up at them, though only a few girls noticed and returned the gesture. Even from that altitude, Constance could still feel those green eyes watching her.
She shivered slightly, and looked back up to the sky, loudly reminding the girls to watch where they were flying.
(A/N)- Please review! Let me know what you think! :)
